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        {"code":"26033","sect":"El Salvador","sect_slug":"el-salvador","hits":"653","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202202\/el_salvador\/26033","link_edit":"","name":"Nuevas Ideas Legislator Took Office despite Accusations of Human Trafficking","slug":"nuevas-ideas-legislator-took-office-despite-accusations-of-human-trafficking","info":"","mtag":"Impunity","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/rlazo'\u003E Roxana Lazo\u003C\/span\u003E y \u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/elemus'\u003E Efren Lemus\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"roxana-lazo":{"sort":"rlazo","slug":"roxana-lazo","path":"roxana_lazo","name":"Roxana Lazo","edge":"0","init":"0"},"efren-lemus":{"sort":"elemus","slug":"efren-lemus","path":"efren_lemus","name":"Efren Lemus","edge":"1","init":"0"}}},"view":"653","pict":{"cms-image-000037140-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"37140","name":"cms-image-000037140.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037140.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037140.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037140-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Jos\u00e9 Bladimir Barahona, Nuevas Ideas legislator representing Moraz\u00e1n, during a legislative session on Feb. 22, 2022. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EJos\u00e9 Bladimir Barahona, Nuevas Ideas legislator representing Moraz\u00e1n, during a legislative session on Feb. 22, 2022. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":37140,"date":{"live":"2022\/02\/28"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2022","data_post_dateLive_MM":"02","data_post_dateLive_DD":"28","text":"\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-583cb33f-7fff-71e9-56af-1bf5d01d123e\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202202\/el_salvador\/26029\/Testigo-declar%C3%B3-que-diputado-de-Nuevas-Ideas-lideraba-una-banda-de-traficantes-de-personas.htm\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELeer en espa\u00f1ol\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOn June 2, 2017, a human trafficker appeared before a San Salvador court to testify against his bosses under the pseudonym \u201cRomero Uno.\u201d He named Jos\u00e9 Bladimir Barahona Hern\u00e1ndez, who since May represents the department of Moraz\u00e1n as a legislator from Nayib Bukele\u2019s party, Nuevas Ideas, as a leader of a human trafficking organization that charged between $8,000 and $12,000 per undocumented migrant traveling to the United States. Five years later, the Attorney General\u2019s Office has not pressed charges against Barahona, but maintains an open investigation into where he got the money in recent years to purchase real estate, cars, and a television station.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn wiretaps conducted from August 2018 to January 2019, prosecutors learned how the network contacted, negotiated with, transferred, and sometimes abandoned its victims in Mexico. Barahona \u2014formerly the mayor of Meanguera, Moraz\u00e1n, with the now-defunct Social Democrat Party\u2014 was the only municipal leader named in Romero Uno\u2019s 2017 testimony.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EA civil court document reviewed by El Faro shows that in August 2019, when Barahona was mayor, prosecutors accused him before the Civil Asset Forfeiture Court \u2014a civil, not penal, action\u2014 of acquiring his wealth from human trafficking. Four days later, the court authorized the seizure of Barahona\u2019s assets, writing that \u201cthe origin of the funds are unknown.\u201d That did not stop Nuevas Ideas from naming him as a legislative candidate in the February 2021 elections in which the party notched a sweeping victory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=2000&ImageHeight=1334&ImageId=37140 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Jos\u00e9 Bladimir Barahona, Nuevas Ideas legislator representing Moraz\u00e1n, during a legislative session on Feb. 22, 2022. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Jos\u00e9 Bladimir Barahona, Nuevas Ideas legislator representing Moraz\u00e1n, during a legislative session on Feb. 22, 2022. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe asset seizure included Barahona M\u00e1rquez S.A. de C.V., a company that the government telecoms authority licensed to operate a segment of television cable bandwidth. The company seizure did not affect the license, which Barahona still holds. In February 2021 the Supreme Electoral Tribunal allowed him to successfully run for the legislature despite a constitutional prohibition against licensees running for seats in the legislature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe investigation into his finances began under Attorney General Douglas Mel\u00e9ndez (2015-2018), during the second FMLN administration, and was continued under his successor Ra\u00fal Melara, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/elfaro.net\/el-faro-english-technical-coup-detat-in-elsalvador-6212804\"\u003Eillegally removed from office by Bukele\u2019s party\u003C\/a\u003E on May 1, 2021. De facto Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado has not moved to prosecute him either, which would now require submitting an indictment request to the Nuevas Ideas-controlled legislature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EProsecutors\u2019 records state that from 2014 to 2019 Barahona was an associate of a larger criminal group, Los Perrones, led by Wildredo Antonio Reyes Mart\u00ednez and brothers Gustavo and Carlos Umanzor Flores. All three have been convicted of human trafficking and tax evasion. Los Perrones were a complex criminal enterprise that for 20 years operated without a central command, but rather through a network of cells that shared control of eastern El Salvador and delt in contraband, human and drug trafficking, money laundering, and tax evasion. They hid their money through shell purchases of vehicles and land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn 2017 Romero Uno also testified that one of the leaders of the ring was Edgar Bernardo Barahona Mart\u00ednez, the brother of the Nuevas Ideas deputy. Last October a court sentenced the brother to ten years in prison for human trafficking. In the same testimony, the witness accused the legislator Barahona of unjustified increase in wealth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnreported Income\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhen investigators requested Barahona\u2019s financial records, they discovered that he had only filed his taxes twice since 1998. Barahona reported shares in two companies: Bar-Mar and Barahona Hern\u00e1ndez, S.A de C.V (BARAH). Prosecutors found that his companies registered expenses higher than their reported income.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn a summary of financial holdings submitted to the Supreme Court, Barahona declared a net worth of $77,000, of which $62,000 are jewelry, cash, and shares of his companies. The court order permitting the civil asset forfeiture noted a \u201csuspicious use of the financial system.\u201d The court wrote: \u201cIllegal human trafficking generates earnings that have facilitated the acquisition of an array of assets, among them real estate, automobiles, and financial products.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Attorney General\u2019s Office did not respond to requests for comment from El Faro. On Feb. 17, 2022, El Faro called TSE president Dora Mart\u00ednez de Barahona to ask her why a candidate with state licenses was allowed to run for the Legislative Assembly. \u201cFirst we must confirm that the license is in the name of who you say it is,\u201d she told El Faro.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThis outlet explained that there are documents from the Attorney General\u2019s office, court, telecoms regulator, and even a habeas corpus presented by Bladimir Barahona stating that he is a licensee. The TSE president said she would review his file and that she would respond the next day. She and her assistant then stopped answering numerous phone calls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBarahona has been close to Bukele\u2019s political project since at least 2017. By that October, he was already underscoring his work meetings with Bukele, then San Salvador Mayor, on social media. In January 2019, during a rally days before Bukele won the presidency, Barahona took the stage alongside the Municipal Council of Meanguera and endorsed his candidacy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFrom his current seat in the Assembly and from his social media accounts, Barahona condemns the \u201cmafias\u201d and corruption in the country. \u201cWe have convened the Financial Commission and approved a resolution so that the mafias of this country are not embedded in government entities,\u201d he tweeted on June 3, 2021.\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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